Dancing with the Devil in the Pale Moonlight
by Melpomene of Tragic Olympus
Summary: Set long after "Waking the Dragons" and two years prior to "Yu-Gi-OH GX". Mai, Tea, Serenity, and Rebecca, now college age, are joined by millionairess and newly inducted friend Jayne Estella, head of the infamous NYC dance studio "Star Spangled Dancers" on a quest with our favorite guys to save the world once again from evil, with some old friends and a new enemy. Semi-canon.
1. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

The Domino City Mall.  
The typical teenage/ young adult hangout, the place every girl goes to snatch the biggest deal or just chill at the food court and ogle the wide-screen televisions of the latest and greatest duels in Domino. Today was no exception as five of the most well-known women entered the mall, ready for a day of girl time and shopping and…well, what else….guy ogling. Leader of the pack was the purple cad effervescent blond, Mai Valentine. Next was inspirationalist and "cheerleader", Tea Gardner. Next to Tea was Joey Wheeler's little sister, Serenity, and bringing up the rear were Rebecca Hawkins and her friend Jayne Estella, head of the famous Star Spangled Dancers in New York City.

The plan for today was to wow Jayne and hopefully land Tea a spot in the illustrious dance school.

"Ah, what a day," exclaimed Mai as six men carrying numerous bags trailed behind her and the other girls. They had just about drained every store of everything they could find, and there was one last thing left to do, head to the food court, grab some burgers and ice cream and watch the latest duels and play 'Who Could Come Close to Being King of Games'. Naturally, everyone knew that title wasn't going away from one Yugi Moto, who has held the title for some years now. Even though the gang's all in college now, no duelist alive has had the guts to test Yugi and challenge him for the title.

Finding the only table big enough to seat five, Mai grabbed the first seat and extended a newly manicured finger to one of the plasma screen televisions, stifling a laugh as a young duelist, no more than about 17, talked about winning the latest Duel Monsters Tournament and wanted to challenge Yugi for the title of King of Games. Tea and Serenity fought the urge to roll their eyes while Rebecca began shouting obscenities at the screen, making the others laugh.

"I know that boy," Jayne said, shrugging her shoulders.  
"He sometimes comes to the studio to do light maintenance work. You know, changing light bulbs, sweeping, cleaning the barre and the mirrors. Nice kid, but incredibly stupid for his age."

"That's a bit harsh, Jayne," Rebecca quipped as she slumped into the seat next to her friend.

"Says the girl swearing at a television screen," Jayne shot back, pointing a frozen yogurt spoon at Rebecca pointedly. "Becks, you need to think about going into anger management. Seriously. If you're going to go off like a NASA rocket every time someone insults your boyfriend, then dear-heart, it's time for therapy."

"That'd be the day," mumbled Tea.

It was a well-known fact that Tea hated Rebecca Hawkins for 'stealing' Yugi away from her, in Tea's mind anyway. Truth of the matter was, the way everyone else saw it, Tea took too damned long deciding between Yugi and Atem and lost both of them. Yugi went on to date Rebecca and Atem got permission from Shadi to bring a girl to modern times. Her name was Syria, and everyone she came across was simply amazed by her.

"Not my fault you took forever to make up your mind," snapped Rebecca.

"Rebecca, you're one to talk," criticized Jayne.  
"You followed Yugi around for…what….two, three years before he even said 'boo' to you outside of a dueling arena?"

"Ladies," chastised Mai, shaking her head.  
"Can we remember why we are all here? But to put an end to all this:  
Tea, Rebecca's right, you wasted too much time deciding which guy you liked more and you lost them both. Accept it and move on. You have a dance career to think of.  
Rebecca, quite antagonizing Tea over it. You know how much Yugi hates it when you do that.  
Jayne, I hope all this doesn't change your opinion of our dear Tea."

"Guys, look," chimed the usually quiet Serenity.  
"It's Yugi, Atem, and Joey!"

All eyes focused on the screen as the tree mentioned men were in front of a camera being interviewed. Watchers are glued to their seats as all three announced that, per the request of Industrial Illusions head, Maximilian Pegasus, that they were heading the biggest dueling tournament Industrial Illusions had ever hosted. The site inside the new Star Winds Duel Arena in New York City, owned by dance studio instructor Jayne Estella. All eyes immediately fell on Jayne, who in turn blushed a deep crimson and buried her face in a copy of _The Great Gatsby._

"Ok ok ok, so I forgot to mention I own the biggest dueling stadium in America," Jayne said bashfully as the news reporter announced that Joey, Yugi and former World Champion Seto Kaiba would be making special appearances at the Domino Mall at 3:30 that afternoon. Checking their watches, the girls realized they had about an hour before the guys appeared and decided to dress for the occasion. Heading for the Ladies' Room, Mai's cell phone went off.

"It's Joey," she said to the girls as she ducked into the first stall.  
"Hello?"

_" 'Ey, Spitfire. What's up?"_

"Getting ready for the special guest appearances here tonight," Mai said, closing the snaps on her latest acquisition, a hot pink tube top and a black mini-skirt with matching black jacket that had a Red-Eyes Black Dragon on the back, Joey's most powerful card, and black Manolo Blahnik stilettos.

_"D'awwwww, are youse getting' all dolled up for me?" _Joey teased, making Mai growl into the phone.

"Not funny," Mai hissed as she hung up the phone and stepped out from the stall to the grins of the other girls. A bright pink flush spread over Mai's face as she stormed to the mirror to touch up her make-up.

Serenity decided to be the most conservative of the group and dressed in black slacks, a Victorian collard dress shirt and high heels. Her long auburn hair was in a high pony-tail wrapped with a white ribbon and a silver _Rolex _watch adorned her wrist, a gift from her fiancé Duke Devlin.

Rebecca decided on the more modern beauty route and dressed in an above-knee-length little black dress with red stilettos and a black and red purse. Her blonde hair was in a French twist, held by a hair clip modeled after Slifer the Sky Dragon, her favorite of the Egyptian God Cards.

Tea donned a black Chinese-inspired dress with a slit cut straight up the thigh, black and silver stilettos and a black clutch bearing the Magician of Faith, her favorite Duel Monster. Tea had all but kicked out her cheerleader personality in favor of a more adult (think more "Rated R" than "PG-13") attitude, which shocked her friends more and more every day.

Jayne went the typical flamboyant American route and stepped out in a dark red Marilyn Monroe inspired dress, silver stiletto heels, and a red clutch bearing the likeness of the Witch of the Black Forest in front of a sacrificial pentagram. On Jayne's arm was a henna tattoo of a pentagram and the words _In omnibus repugnare et fidem_on her right arm.

"What does that mean?" asked Mai, pointing to the tattoo as they exited the Ladies' Room, heading towards the front of the mall.

"It means, 'In all things, have faith and fight back'. My Gran-mama used to tell me that," Jayne replied, patting the tattoo lightly.

"That sounds like something my Yugi-Woogy would say," chimed Rebecca, garnering a strange look from the other girls.

"Yugi-Woogy?" The others said in unison before shaking their collective heads in disbelief at the Hawkins genius.

"Girls, look," whispered the Victorian-style Serenity, mimicking the girl from _Poltergeist_ as she spun around slowly to face her fellow femme fatales.  
"They're heeeeerrrreeeeee!"


	2. Enter Kari Rakitan

"Aw, Yuge," whined Joey as they exited the limousine Duke Devlin had let them use for the day's event.  
"Do we have to get this dressed up? I feel like a monkey in this outfit."

"Relax, Joey," said Yugi, looking to Atem with an amused smile.  
"You don't look like a monkey. You look like…"

"A mutt pretending to be human."

A low growl from Joey showed he recognized the voice.  
It was none other than Seto Kaiba.

"Again with the mutt thing?!  
Come on, Kaiba, think of something original for once!"

"It's original enough for a repeat loser like you," snarked Kaiba.

"That's funny. I thought millionaires could afford better jokes."

All eyes fell on fiery red hair and hazel eyes in a chic Marilyn Monroe inspired dress and stiletto heels.  
She sashayed right over to Kaiba and shot him a look that could melt the polar ice caps.

"Mr. Kaiba, a word of advice:  
Be careful who you make fun of, they might decide the state of your finances one day."

"Owwwww, Jayne," cheered Rebecca.  
"Way to put that rich snob in his place!"

"Jayne, huh?" said Kaiba, amused by the redhead in front of him.  
"You must be Jayne Estella, the American whose arena is housing the tournament."

"Indeed I am," she acknowledged, turning her attention to the King of Games.  
"Yugi Moto. You're quite the sensation in America."

A slight blush hit the now 20-something's cheeks.  
He'd grown up a lot in 2 years, nearly as tall as Atem now, but retained a lot of his high school boyish traits, shyness included.

"T-Thank you, Miss Estella…"

"Please, call me Jayne."

"Right, Jayne. Ahem. Let me introduce you to my friends.  
This is Atem, my um...'cousin'. And this is Joey Wheeler, my best friend."

Jayne locked eyes with the former Pharaoh and smiled.  
"_Occurrit rursus Pharao. Sed quia erit extremum?_"  
(We meet once again, Pharaoh. But, will it be for the last time?)

Atem's eyes suddenly narrowed.  
Something about this girl struck a bad chord with him.  
But, he didn't want to ruin his Hikari's moment, or the chance to enter the tournament, so he let his suspicions fall to the side. Returning the woman's smile, he extended his hand to her, being as civil as he could be in the presence of something more evil than Seto Kaiba in a card shop.

"Pleasure to meet you as well," Atem said as they shook hands.

"Indeed it is…Atem. Ah, I am truly sorry," she said, turning to face the confused Joey.  
"I didn't mean to make you feel left out, Mr. Wheeler."

Joey chuckled as Mai came to his side, slinging an arm around his waist and smiling.

"It's okay. Dis kinda confusion ain't nothing new to me," Joey said.

"That's because you constantly live in a state of confusion," quipped Mai, laughing at Joey's annoyed face. "Come on Joey, you said it yourself once."

"Yeah yeah, so anyway, Atem, where's Syria? I thought she'd be joining us?"  
Joey asked as Serenity, Tea, and Rebecca came closer to the group.

"Syria is with Ishizu and Marik," Atem said, shrugging his shoulders.  
"She hates these big fusses anyway."

"Ahem! Can we focus on the task at hand?" Snapped Kaiba as the paparazzi descended like vultures upon the group.

The gang all posed for pictures. Joey even went as far as to tackle Kaiba and noogie him in front of the press, royally pissing Kaiba off. Kaiba kicked the cackling Wheeler off of him and glared at the cameramen, demanding the film containing the embarrassing incident. Much to his dismay, none of the cameramen would relinquish the prize-worthy event. Even when a severely annoyed Kaiba tried bribing the whole flock of paparazzi there, none of them would budge. Kaiba was beyond ticked now and was about to unleash a rant when Jayne stepped up to the cameraman heckling Kaiba.

"Look, doll," she cooed, twirling the man's stained tie in her finger.  
"We can do this one of two ways:  
You can hand over the film and convince your friends here to destroy their copies or I'll go to my friend at _The Domino Herald _and explain to him why his top reporter is spending his afternoons stalking junior high kids at Domino Park. Oh and I'm sure your wife Bernadette would love, I mean just simply **LOVE **to know about your excursions to Old Kyoto and the Geisha houses for…ahem…extracurricular activites, right?"

The horrified cameraman snapped open the camera and produced a small disk, which he quickly gave to Jayne without hesitation. The cameraman then turned to his fellow photographers and made a throat-cutting motion, which prompted his fellow friends to hand over their disks of the hilarious incident.  
Disks in hand, Jayne turned to face Kaiba with a satisfied smile.

"Never send a man to do a woman's job," she quipped, pocketing the disks in her clutch.

"What are you doing?" Kaiba snarled.

"Worry not, Mr. Kaiba," Jayne said in mock sincerity.  
"I'll see to it personally that these never circulate amongst the general population."

Before Kaiba could even respond, the paparazzi resumed their million-mile line of questions rumbled through the air to the hosts of the tournament. Jayne once again stepped in released a shrill whistle and snapped her fingers twice. All eyes focused on the saucy American as she snatched a microphone from a shocked reporter and ushered everyone toward the nearest camera.

"Hello world, this is Jayne Estella, owner of the Star Winds Dueling Arena. We're here today talking with Yugi and Atem Moto and Joey Wheeler, the hosts and Master Duelist Judges of the newest Duelist Kingdom Tournament held by my good friend Maximillon Pegasus. Yugi, what are your thoughts on being a judge in a tournament you won so many years ago?"

"Well…it's an honor, really," chuckled Yugi.  
"Duelist Kingdom was my first tournament as a real duelist and it's where I gained a lot of new techniques and a lot of friends."

"Interesting. Mr. Wheeler, your thoughts?"

"He-hehe-hehe! I plan on winning dis one and finally getting the first place recognition I deserve. No offense, Yuge," Joey said, patting his friend on the shoulder.

"First place, Wheeler? In what, a kennel club show?" Snickered Kaiba, relishing in embarrassing Joey on camera.

Before Joey could retaliate, Jayne swung the cameraman around to face Kaiba.

"Funny you should mention dogs, Kaiba," Jayne said.  
"Why aren't _you_in the tournament? Are you just ashamed to admit that maybe Pegasus thinks you're an old dog afraid to learn new tricks? Are you played out, Seto Kaiba? Are you yesterday's news? Please, do respond."

The full on shaking of pure rage evident in Seto Kaiba's body was pure fodder for the photo-vultures.  
No one, especially no _woman_ ever **DARED **humiliate the "great" Seto Kaiba, especially on camera.  
But here was this girl, this fiery redhead, this little bitch, that **DARED** to make him look like a fool.  
But, yet again, before Kaiba could make a comeback, a melodic laugh filled the air.

"Kaiba-boy, bested by a woman. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Miss Estella, I congratulate you on your innate ability to send Kaiba-boy's blood pressure to the cosmos," chuckled Pegasus as he came into camera view, slinging an arm around the already irate Kaiba.

"Photo-bombing Kaiba already? Max, have you no shame?" Jayne chuckled.  
"Hasn't Seto been hassled enough?"

"Indeed," chortled Pegasus, walking over to Jayne now and shaking her hand.  
"Indeed he has."  
Pegasus then addressed the awaiting astounded cameramen.  
"My fellow duelists, it is with a great and joyous heart that I thank Miss Estella here for use of her expansive and expensive arena in New York City, and also for Miss Estella and my second guest of honor for providing the accommodations and amenities to our judges and duelists. Ladies and gentlemen of the press, I give you…"

"Oh…my…god," gasped Jayne.

"Environmentalist and Businesswoman Extraordinaire, Kari Rakitan!"

No sooner than her name had been mentioned did Miss Rakitan emerge from Pegasus' limousine. Soft blue eyes glittered with golden flecks as golden curls cascaded down slim but strong shoulders. She wore a blue business suit with a pin of Saint Joan on the lapel. Scanning the crowd, Kari finally joined her esteemed host and cast a glance to Jayne as another young woman was at Kari's side in an instant. This was Kari's assistant and best friend Katie Sutton. Platinum blonde hair framed a heart-shaped face.

"Joy of joys," Jayne said through gritted teeth as she turned to greet Kari and Katie.  
"Ladies! How nice of you to join us."

The others could feel the tension.  
It was worse than the square offs between Mai and Tea, or Tea and Rebecca, or Rebecca and Vivian Wong. This was pure free-flowing estrogen filled rage. If there was a bloodhound, he'd have passed out from the smell of all the tension in the air. Pegasus, obviously not oblivious to this fact, stepped between Jayne and Kari and motioned lightly towards the cameras.

"Ladies, ladies, please," Pegasus chuckled.  
"If you two wanted to fight, you should have told me ahead of time. I would have arranged for a mud pit. Or is it a baby oil pit? Whatever it is those nice underground wrestling ladies are always slipping and sliding around in."

Both Kari and Jayne looked absolutely mortified as the crowd of paparazzi and everyday people that had gathered laughed uproariously.

"Mr. Pegasus," Kari hissed.  
"I'm sure a cultured man such as yourself needn't lower Miss Estella and I to the likes of those rustling around in precious minerals that could be put to better use."

"Of course, Kari-dear," Pegasus chuckled, slipping an arm around both women.  
"Kari, Jayne, why don't the both of you share with the world the last bit of the wonderful news on our joint tournament?"

Both women looked at each other and grit their teeth.

"As of today," both women said in unison.  
"Rakitan Industries and Star Winds International are joining forces with Industrial Illusions to create a new eco-friendly stadium. All employees building the stadium will be paid graciously and provided all the amenities they need. Also, we are proud to announce a merger of our secret joint projects to bring to you Occupy, Inc. A company dedicated to the modernization of the dueling world and making the earth a better place. Thank you."

Both women took a brief bow with Pegasus as the crowd gave way to uproarious applause.

"Max, dear, "hissed Jayne.  
"The merger wasn't to be finalized 'til **AFTER**the tournament!"

"I'm sure Mr. Pegasus has a legitimate reason for pushing up the date of our agreement,"  
said Kari, shrugging.

"Oh stifle it, you tree hugging twit," Jayne groaned as Mai and her friends joined them.

"Ah, um, Mai, Joey, Yugi, everyone, meet Kari Rakitan, head of Rakitan Industries, and…apparently…my new corporate partner."

Jayne stepped back as everyone said their hellos to Kari and grabbed her cell phone as she dialed a mystery number.

"Yes, it's me. Everything is in place. The bait will all be in one centralized location and our primary targets will be ripe for the picking."

_"Well done, my shining star," _came the distorted voice on the other end of the line.  
_"We will see to it that those who led to the downfall of what was rightfully mine."_

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A/N:

I want to extend a special thanks to K5Rakitan for lending me use of her character Kari Rakitan and I _**HIGHLY **_recommend you read _The Best Democracy Money Can Buy _and _Rakitan Industries and Kaiba Corporation. _I envy this woman's talent and I thank her to high heavens for her permission to use her character.

Kari, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. :3

Oh and side note:

The duels will begin in chapter 5.  
I'm thinking of introducing two more old favorites from the series and bringing in the Ishtar clan.  
But that's still up in the air for right now.  
Oh and btw, this is only my second Yu-Gi-Oh! fic , so…yeah be gentle lol.

~Melpomene~


End file.
